Time to Stand UP! For Keeping God out of Classrooms! & Fighting for a Secular Europe!

by Azam Kamguian

In
my talk, I am going to argue for a secular system of
education, for keeping God out of classrooms and for the
urgency of fighting for a secular Europe.

We
have all been witnessing that in the recent past
decades; European governments have given their strong
backing to faith schools and propose to extend the
number of faith schools across Europe. From north to
south and from east to west, they encourage the opening
of new state – sponsored faith schools including
Islamic schools.

Regrettably,
in most secular countries and in most atheistic
societies where most people are wholly ignorant of their
religious observance, this trend is dominant and there
is a constant pressure from religion to gain or regain
the power and influence that was taken away from them. A
whole generation that has never entered a church in
their lives, except perhaps to go for a wedding or for a
funeral, now is challenged by religion more and more in
education, in media and in legislation.

In
the UK there is a state religion unfortunately. Queen,
the head of the country is the head of the Church of
England, too, and there is an unholy alliance between
the church and the state. The Church of England is
strongly present in legislation, in media and in
education system. One third of schools in the UK are
church schools and the Church of England aims to
establish a hundred new church schools and to take over
250 other publicly-funded local authority ones. These
faith based schools funded by the state and controlled
by religious bodies will give them the opportunity to
indoctrinate, to brain –wash and to discriminate in
favour of their own denominations in selecting pupils,
staff and Governors. Another European country; Norway
has been particular violator of the liberties of
non-religious children and parents. In 1997 Norway
introduced a new compulsory syllabus for primary and
secondary schools where children are educated
overwhelmingly about Lutheran Christianity.

In
September this year, the very first state – funded
Islamic school started to work in France, the birthplace
of secular education system. This school was set up and
funded by French government for girls from Muslim
families who resisted the secular education system. This
is indeed a serious setback. Long before France,
Scandinavian governments have strongly supported and
subsidised Islamic schools. Islamic schools are in fact
the most powerful child abuse machinery. In
Islamic schools, which have been growing fast, children
are being treated worth. They are deprived of their
social activities such as learning to play music, to
swim, to mix freely with each other and to enjoy their
life and study. Girls are segregated, subject to
mandatory veiling; they are deprived of being playful
and happy. In Islamic schools children are alienated and
humiliated. They lose their self-esteem. They feel that
they have been singled out and are different. Preventing
children from enjoying their social and civil rights
such as education and participation in social activities
is a systematic child abuse and an offence. It
particularly isolates girls and makes their lives
miserable. Yet,
this apartheid and misery does not stop here. It will
extend to the community and to the homes of these
innocent children.

To
extend Islamic schools among immigrant communities is a
continuation of European Governments’ policy of
building a wall of segregation and social apartheid
around these communities to separate them from wider and
mainstream society, and aims at strengthening the most
reactionary elements such as controlling women and
girls’ lives, imposing the veil on them, and
encouraging forced marriages and honour killings. In
this way, the states have allowed Imams and sheiks to
speak for the immigrant community. And who doesn’t
admit this has hurt most women and children’s basic
human rights. Having identified religious leaders as the
representatives of the community, governments across the
continent aim to give them access to the mind of our
children in the hope of silencing the very real demands
for integrating to the mainstream of the society and for
a better life. Of
course, this couldn’t be done without an ideological
justification. Cultural relativism or respecting
backward religious and cultural values has been and
continues to be a fancy cover for this ugly reality that
has been imposed on the immigrant community.

Education
is the transmission of human values and civilisation and
preparation of children for complex responsibilities in
their future lives. Education for all must guarantee
opening doors of opportunity to wider horizons than any
child's home environment. Segregated faith schools
deprive boys or girls to learn about human values, to
internalise these values and to make real choices as
they grow up.

Do
faith schools, as it has been claimed, teach tolerance
and respect? Or do they insist the sort of sectarian
hatred that has some Muslims talking of jihad and some
Christians of Crusade; and that has some Protestants
spating at children from Catholic parents as they walk
to their religious schools? Neither Christian nor other
religious schools teach respect for other faiths. Each
and every religious school starts to teach its pupils
about the superiority of its own belief and the
inferiority of others.

When
a school promotes a particular religion as the one true
faith, what sort of culture does that engender? How can
schools which deny freedom also be reasonably expected
to promote it? The situation merely causes a crisis
inherent in marrying education and religion. If the
youth dangerously get ghettoized based on religion, the
growth of Islamic fanaticism in schools is not
surprising. In an age and in countries of widespread
secularism, it is indeed shameful to force upon children
ideologies that the majority of adults have left behind.

Now,
we should deal with another more important issue. Do
children have religion? How and in which process they
have chosen to be the followers of this or that faith?
The truth is that religions are hereditary beliefs and
opinions. Children are labelled automatically as
followers of this or that faith as soon as they are born
and as a result of a blind lottery. The outcome is
labelling the child as Muslim, Hindu, Protestant or
Catholic, etc. It is not acceptable to do this to
children. But, sadly and unfortunately, the society
accepts this as a universal standard.

Children
have no faith. They have not joined any religious sect.
The fate of children shouldn't be tied to the faith of
their parents. Labelling children as followers of
religious sects is indeed child abuse. Society should
protect children and safeguard their rights. Society is
duty bound to protect children from the spiritual
manipulation by religions and religious institutions.

Children
should be given the chance to learn, to question and to
investigate. The time for children to learn about
religion is in later life. They go to school to gain
knowledge, not to become vehicle for dogma and
superstition. Religion should be completely separated
from education. But, quite understandably, the
governments deliberately do the opposite. They set up
and hugely subsidize religious schools. They prepare the
fertile ground for the growth of superstition,
fanaticism and religious hatred.

Secularism
is the only answer!

Children
should be protected against the transgressions of
religion and religious sects on their rights. It is an
offence to prevent children from enjoying their social
and civil rights such as a secular education, amusement
and participation in social activities specific to
children.

Society
has the duty to protect children and persons under 16
from all forms of material and spiritual manipulation by
religion and religious institutions. Society should
guarantee both freedom of religion and atheism. A
complete separation of religion from the state
guarantees this separation and protects children from
manipulation by religions.

Religion
must be completely separated from education;

Teaching
religious subjects and dogmas of religious
interpretation of subjects in schools and
educational establishments must be prohibited;

Any
law, regulation or ritual that breaches the
principle of secular non – religious education
should be abolished;

These
are the essential and necessary measures to ensure
children rights, the health of the next generation and
development of the society.

Faith
schools cause deep psychological and physical harm to
children. Religious education is indeed child abuse.
Society is duty bound to put an end to this systematic
child abuse.

We
must keep God out of classrooms!

Now
is the time for us to stand up and fight for a secular
Europe!

Adapted
from the speech delivered at the 2nd International
conference of “Children First”, on 29 & 30
November 2003 in Stockholm – Sweden, and also at a
seminar on children rights in Oslo – Norway, on 4
December 2003